Now, this type of peer-to-peer crime that I've been mentioning, the theft of music and movies over the Internet, is not something that happens just once in a while. It happened over 230 million times last year alone; that's according to Kazaa itself. The witnesses who are sympathetic to this type of crimes appear before us and essentially taunt us saying, "We don't need any new laws from Congress. There are already existing laws on the books. There's just no enforcement of them. Just you need enforcement, not new laws."

And I bring this up because this problem has very serious consequences for our economic growth and job creation. The U.S., as you know, is the world's largest producer and distributor of copyrighted materials. The copyright industries account for 5 percent of our gross domestic product

Someone else pointed out that in fact the entertainment industry only makes up 0.5 percent (if you're stretching it) (see cenus data).

But don't worry. Ashcroft say:

I have no doubt in my mind that there will come a time when we will be able to talk about successful convictions against those who thwart the copyright laws as a result of the kind of activities you represent.

230 million people can't be wrong, or can they?
5:24:32 PM   []

What I don't get is how he gets that much. I estimate I probably get 10,000 spam a year. I check four different accounts. Two of which have very public email addresses which are all over the web (websites, google, usenet, discussion boards,...).

Not that I'm complaining...
11:49:52 AM   []

Yup. Me too. It's leaving me a little conflicted because I'm getting these mixed messages. People don't want me downloading, so I buy CDs. But then I don't use the CDs and people get upset. What's the proper way to appreciate music these days?

1. Discover (somehow) that you'd like to get a new album
2. Work for approximately one hour
3. Find car keys
4. Drive to record store
5. Park car
6. Wander around record store, lost, looking for your album
7. Find it
8. Wait for cashier
9. Pay
10. Get back in car
11. Drive home
12. Open shrink wrap
13. Find the DVD/CD drive for your notebook because you never use it
14. Open CD
15. Open CD player
16. Insert CD
17. Listen to CD

Repeat steps 13-17.

?

And I'm supposed to do this for all the albums I'd like to listen to?

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why did't you download (via p2p) the music?

Because I wanted the album the day it came out and Gord Downie's releases have much tighter security then major label stuff so the album was not yet available online.

Why didn't you download it (via p2p) and mail Gord Downie some money?

See above. Plus, I don't trust the new owners of Fairtunes (you know, the original website for sending money to artists because you downloaded music (that I founded)) (now Musiclink) to actually send my money to the artist. And I'm way too lazy to do it myself.

Why didn't you legally purchase the music in some online format?

Becuase such an option does not exist. If it did, I probably would have.

Why didn't you re-sell the album?

I'm too lazy to.

Why didn't you give the album to me?

If you really want to come over here and pick it up. Great, it's all yours (for $15). But today was garbage day.

Why didn't you give the album to your GF?

I'm hoping she'll buy an iPod with an FM receiver so we can get her out of the 90's.

Aren't you being wasteful by throwing it out?

Hardly. I now have the music on my computer, the CD was simply a delivery mechanism.

By buying a CD aren't you perpetuating the crap you hate?

Perhaps. I tried (with John) to take a stand against this crap by downloading music and creating Fairtunes but that was a flop.

Does Gord Downie really think you're a jerk for throwing out his music?

I doubt it. I've listened to his new album a bunch of times on my iPod and on my computer. I've been to one show and will check out more. He got his money, he should be happy.

Why didn't you recycle it?

Are CDs recyclable? I'll try that next time.

Why does anyone care?

Damned if I know.

Did you really throw it out?

No. I transferred it from the garbage to my stack of discarded CDs but now I can't find it. Did one of you steal it?
11:16:50 AM   []

His daily blog is sort of a rambling on local and international music happenings.

10:57:45 AM   []